WACOSS director of social policy Chris Twomey said housing remained the single biggest cause of financial hardship.

"Over recent years the increases in the cost of rental has been the biggest driver behind people going into financial crises," he said.

"While over the last year or so we've seen some freeing up of the rental market, both in terms of the vacancy rate and average rental charges, not that much of it has actually translated into the lower end of the market."

Mr Twomey said WA's rapid economic development had slowed but the effects had not flowed onto low-income households.

"Cost of living research over the last few years showed that low-income households in WA were increasingly left behind by the rapid pace of our economy during the economic boom," he said.

"What we've seen in our latest report is that despite the slowing of the economy, which we hoped would create an opportunity to catch up, little has actually changed in their circumstances."

Mr Twomey said there had also been significant increases in household fees and charges announced in the 2014-15 State Budget, worth on average $324 per household, per year, which were yet to be felt.

He has called on the WA Government to deliver on a review of state concessions.

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